Wednesday, June 18, 2008

the barnard moment

I attended Barnard's spring financial aid gala Monday night at Chelsea Piers. The trustee who gave me a seat at her table sat me between two dynamic New York media types. I already knew one of them and was thrilled to catch up with her. The other was an executive editor at a Conde Nast magazine. I'm OK with that too. There were over 500 guests in the room, and the majority of us were alumnae of all ages.

I hear the event raked in close to $1.7 million, including $20,000 each from two bidders who bought the privilege of naming characters in a future Anna Quindlen novel.

The evening was emcee'd by Chevy Chase, whose daughter is a Barnard student. He wasn't very entertaining - except by mistake. The best moment of the event:

Chase launched into a spiel urging attendees to give more, because "these girls deserve every opportunity for a top-notch education."

There was a gasp of collective indignation, and then an elderly voice called out of the crowd.